Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 5: 2014 Christmas Haul

/ saraletourneau

book-stack

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly event hosted by Tynga’s Reviews that shares the books (both physical and virtual) that you recently purchased, borrowed from a fellow reader or the library, won from a giveaway, or received as gifts. Stacking The Shelves will post on Saturdays as new books are added to my shelves. 

I’m taking a quick break from my mini “writing vacation” to share this year’s Christmas book haul! Most of the books were on my wishlist, while a couple others were neat surprises. Here they are!

100_1911

Top Row, Left to Right:

Metatron: Invoking The Angel Of God’s Presence by Rose Vanden Eynden (Spirituality): One of the two surprise gifts. A friend found this book at a new age store and said she immediately thought of me. Now, I don’t write much about my spiritual beliefs on this blog… but Metatron is an archangel whom I’ve developed a special connection with over the past year. I’ve fallen out of my “communication” habit the past couple months (two words: holiday insanity), so this book could be a great way to reconnect with Metatron.

Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, Book #1) by Morgan Rhodes (YA Epic Fantasy): OOOOOOOOOH. This sounds like the YA version of George R.R. Martin’s Song Of Ice And Fire saga. Multiple POV characters (at least three, from the looks of the jacket copy) and the promise of political intrigue, romance, and death. Muahahahaha!

Middle Row, Left to Right:

Neverwhere (Contemporary Fantasy) and Stardust (Fantasy) by Neil Gaiman: I really enjoyed The Ocean At The End Of The Lane this past summer, so now I want to catch up with Neil’s previous works. American Gods was also on my list, but these two should tide me over for the time being.

The Burning Sky (Elemental Trilogy, Book #1) by Sherry Thomas (YA Fantasy): I’d be lying if I said Burning Sky‘s cover wasn’t one of the reasons why I wanted to read it. Isn’t it gorgeous?! It reminds me of a phoenix rising from the ashes. And like I mentioned in this article from November, I’m interested in reading more fantasy stories dealing with elemental magic. Very excited about this gift, and I hope to read it sometime in 2015.

Bottom Row:

642 Things To Write About by San Francisco Writers’ Grotto (Writing / Craft): A writing prompt book with a sense of humor! I flipped through it on Christmas Eve and had to stop myself from cracking up. A number of the prompt ideas are outrageous (e.g., an ode to an onion, fixing the plot of the worst movie you’ve ever seen, a serial killer’s video library), but some are more serious or “down-to-earth” (e.g., something you’ve always regretted saying, describing something you once wanted badly and then never used once you got it). I can’t wait to try a couple and see what story ideas it might spark. (NOTE: For younger writers, I’d recommend this version instead, as some prompts in the one I received may not be appropriate for everyone.)

What books did you recently buy or acquire? Have you read of the books shown / discussed above? Feel free to share your opinions and most recent hauls by commenting below.

17 thoughts on “Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 5: 2014 Christmas Haul”

  1. This is a super idea for an ongoing blog post, Sara:)). I’ve been given some Amazon vouchers – but haven’t yet settled down to really SPLURGE on some new books, as I’ve still got waaay too many on my TBR pile to get through! Having said that, after reading the hugely enjoyable ‘The Facts of Life and Death’ by Belinda Baur, Himself did rush out and snag ‘Rubberneckers’ with his book tokens. I’m sure he’ll share it with me…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Sarah! Though I can’t take much credit. Tynga and her team started it, and from the looks of things it’s really caught on.

      Your husband seems to be good with sharing books with you. I think I noticed a couple of your reviews mentioned he recommended each book after reading it himself. 🙂

      Haven’t heard of either book, but I look forward to reading about them on your blog!

      Like

      Reply

  3. Wow, this is a great list and Falling Kingdoms sounds like my thing! I’ll check it out. I’m yet to read any of Neil Gaiman’s works, I have so much to catch up! The Elemental Trilogy sounds interesting too. My WIP book has some elemental magic in it, it’s a lot of fun to write about.

    Like

    Reply

  4. The only book I have “read” (well it was DNF) was Falling Kingdoms. I have come to realise that while I do love YA fiction, I much prefer more adult Fantasy than YA fantasy. Soo many people love it though so I hope you do enjoy it, it just wasn’t my cup of tea sadly. The Burning Sky looks very intriguing though, must check that one out!

    My December Book Haul

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Great haul! I actually didn’t get any books as gifts for the holidays this year, I think I read so much that people are just like, er, I have no idea what you have or don’t have on your shelves anymore, here take this gift card, get the books you like! 😛

    Sequel to Falling Kingdoms is a book I need to catch up with this year, now that book three is also out. I hope you’ll enjoy book 1!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Mogsy! People do the same for me most of the time, by buying me gift cards to Barnes & Noble or other booksellers. But the Gaiman, Thomas, and Rhodes books were all on my Christmas list, so people also knew specific titles I was looking for this year. 😉

      Like

      Reply

  10. Pingback: Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 7: The Lucky Number Seven | Sara Letourneau's Official Website & Blog

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.